Comet Spotting

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Comet McNaught has turned out to be the brightest comet in the past 40 years, at its peak it was just bright enough to see during the day. The comet was discovered by Robert McNaught at Siding Springs Observatory in Australia during a regular survey of the sky for asteroids and comets. The comet made its closest approach to the sun on the 12th of January and is now speeding away from the Sun and Earth.

Sighting 1 (17th Jan 2007) - from the loo

After hearing about the comet I made my first attempt at viewing the comet from the loo (toilet) of my flat. The loo has the best view of the South-West where the comet is located and after scanning the sky with binoculars I managed to find it. There are trees and building around the horizon so I didn’t manage to take any photos on the first occasion. The following few days where cloudy so I was forced to wait till the weekend for the next sightings.

Sighting 2 (20th Jan 2007) - from Mt Ngungun

Saturday proved to be fairly cloud free so I decided to drive to the Glass House Mountains about an hour away from my home in Brisbane. I climbed up Mt Ngungun the easiest of the peaks and set-up my camera and waited for the sun to set. Shortly after sunset I spotted Venus and then later the crescent moon. The comet proved more elusive at first and I began to panic that I would not find it. Eventually the sky darkened enough for the comet to become visible with its tail. Unfortunately the peak of the mountain (more like a steep hill) seemed to be covered in mosquitoes. There where so many that I managed to kill about 3 at a time with each swipe of my hand. As the sky darkened the curved tail became easier to see. On the way back down a cane toad scarred the hell out of me by deciding to jump as I was right next to it, for a second I thought I was about to be bitten by a snake. Then right near the car I managed to bury my face in a spider web sending me into a second panic.

Sighting 3 (21st Jan 2007) - in a crowd

The following day I decided to bring my grandparents along to Mt Coot-tha a popular lookout with a great view of the Brisbane skyline. Quite a sizeable crowed gathered to see the show, and once again the comet didn’t disappoint.

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Photos

Mt Beerwah and Mt Coonowrin
The Glass House mountains are a series of steep peaks which resulted from volcanic eruptions.

Celestial family
Although hard to see in this resized version the photo features Comet McNaught, the Moon, Venus, Mt Beerwah and Mt Coonowrin.

Comments

[Lilanthi]

Good work Raf
I am so jealous I missed out on seeing the comet... didnt see any bit of it here in teh norhern hemisphere :-( The best sighting in decades and i'm in the wrong place! grr..